Nankhatai (Indian Shortbread Cookies)

Nankhatai is Indian shortbread cookies flavoured with cardamom. I guess every kid in India has grown up eating these amazingly delicious cookies that are available in most bakeries and sweet shops. Nankhatai is a very popular tea time snack and is loved by everyone in the family. I still remember my mom baking batches of these little bites of deliciousness in her tiny little oven which would hold just 5-6 cookies at a time.

The history behind the origin of these cookies is rather interesting. Nankhatai is believed to have originated in Surat in the 16th century, the time when Dutch and Indians were the important spice traders. A Dutch couple set up a bakery in Surat to meet the needs of local Dutch residents. When the Dutch left India, they handed over the bakery to an Iranian. The bakery biscuits were disliked by the locals. To save his business he started selling dried bread at low prices. It became so popular that he started drying the bread before selling it. With time, his experimentation with bread ultimately gave birth to Nankhatai. Source: wiki

These tasty cookies are ready in less than 30 minutes and can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 10 days. Here goes the recipe for these slightly different, egg free cookies…